Champions of Equality & Inclusion Celebrated at enei Awards

PageGroup and HS2 were applauded for their equality and inclusion policies at yesterday’s Employers Network for Equality & Inclusion (enei) Awards (11 July 2017) which took place at The Law Society, London.

Awarded the top honours of ‘Overall Winner 2017 – Private Sector and Public Sector’ respectively, the two organisations celebrated their achievements alongside the Southbank Centre which was named ‘Small Employer of the Year 2017’. PageGroup won the Inclusive Culture (Private Sector) Award this year, with global diversity & inclusion director Sarah Kirk and OpenPage director Sheri Hughes receiving the Team of the Year Award. HS2 also won two awards, taking the Impact through Innovation and Inclusive Procurement categories. Southbank Centre were recognised for their outstanding achievements with the Representative Workforce Award.

This year Santander and South East Coast Ambulance Service achieved the ‘Gold Standard’ for equality – enei’s online benchmark – for the fourth year running. They are joined by fellow Gold Standard employer Zurich Insurance for the second year, along with first time Gold Standard employers Nationwide Building Society and legal firm DWF.

Shomari Burford from the Ministry of Justice was presented with a Personal Achievement Award, in recognition of the way in which he not only exceeded all expectations but also changed the attitudes of his colleagues as a participant in the organisation’s Workfit scheme.

Accolades were granted to 13 organisations in 11 categories, with winners having to demonstrate a clear response to a specific challenge, definitive and measurable outcomes and evidence of significant impact. The awards acknowledged and celebrated those with a commitment to good practice above and beyond legal compliance and innovative approaches that will inspire other employers. A further 9 organisations were Highly Commended for their work.

Addressing over 250 delegates at the event were vice president of The Law Society, Christina Blacklaws, who spoke about her personal challenge to promote diversity at senior levels in the legal sector, and chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, David Isaac, who spoke about how the EHRC was working to accelerate change in D&I practices and taking a more active role in taking to task those organisations who follow discriminatory practices.

Employee Network Group of the Year (Private Sector) (Sponsored by CA Technologies): Standard Life

Employee Network Group of the Year (Public Sector) (Sponsored by CA Technologies): NELFT NHS Foundation Trust

Denise Keating, chief executive, enei commented: “The enei Annual Awards recognise the commitment of organisations to achieving diverse and inclusive workplaces, celebrating the teams and individuals who really are making a difference. We have been encouraged by the steps organisations have taken to promote equality and diversity and hope this will encourage other companies to follow their lead. We are delighted that so many organisations are prepared to publicly share best practice and are delighted to be able to recognise the innovative work they are doing.”

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For more information, please contact:

Magali Merindol, head of communications, Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion